The Diversity Corner
| Publication year | 2010 |
| Pages | 12 |
Committee Update
By Karen Hester, Director of Career Services and Director of Diversity and Inclusion, University of Kansas School of Law, Lawrence, khester@ku.edu
As chair of the Diversity Committee, I want to update you on the committee's efforts. But as a refresher, let's start with why the legal profession needs to be more diverse and more inclusive. Yours may vary, but there are several reasons on the need for diversity and inclusiveness.
"Democracy Rationale: Lawyers and judges have a unique responsibility for sustaining a political system with broad participation by all its citizens. A diverse bar and bench create greater trust in the mechanisms of government and the rule of law."
"Business Rationale: Business entities are rapidly responding to the needs of global customers, suppliers, and competitors by creating workforces from many different backgrounds, perspectives, skill sets, and tastes. Ever more frequently, clients expect and sometimes demand lawyers who are culturally and linguistically proficient."
"Leadership Rationale: Individuals with law degrees often possess the communication and interpersonal skills and the social networks to rise into civic leadership positions, both in and out of politics. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor recognized this when she noted in Grutter v. Bollinger that law schools serve as the training ground for such leadership and therefore access to the profession must be broadly inclusive."
"Demographic Rationale: Our country is becoming diverse along many dimensions, and we expect that the profile of LGBT lawyers and lawyers with disabilities will increase more rapidly. With respect to the nation's racial/ethnic populations, the Census Bureau projects that by 2042 the United States will be a "majority minority country.'"[1]
You'll notice the moral and ethical rationales are not included here but some consider those as valid reasons as well.
However, I think I may have jumped the gun a little - working definitions of diversity and inclusiveness are needed.
"Diversity (or to be more specific "compositional diversity"): "˜the extent to which a legal organization has people from diverse backgrounds and communities working as attorneys and staff. Primary dimensions of diversity include race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and gender expression.'[2] Most legal...
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